A wide variety of electric devices are known in the art for dispensing of insecticides. However, the known electric devices are, for the most part, complex devices which are expensive to manufacture and do not provide for ease of operation by the user. Specifically, the majority of electric devices require that the user return to the device and turn the device off after the insecticide is released or require that the user physically handle the insecticide material.
Electric devices are known which plug directly into the wall, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,781, assigned to S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., containing an insecticide impregnated mat which is inserted into the housing of the device adjacent to an electric heater for generating a sustained level of insecticide to the atmosphere. This type of device, while extremely useful for certain applications, requires that the consumer insert an insecticide impregnated mat into the device, plug the device into an electric outlet, and return and remove the device from the electric outlet after the insecticide is dispensed. While having been found useful and successful for certain applications, such devices preclude the use of larger amounts of an insecticide, do not allow the user to avoid handling the insecticide, and do not turn off automatically after the insecticide has been dispensed.
Electric insecticide generators are also known in the art having more complex constructions and which are plugged into an electric outlet by means of an electric cord and plug such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,675,293; 2,685,020; 2,767,511; and 2,690,500. These patents disclose complex structures which are expensive to manufacture, inconvenient to use in many circumstances, and potentially unsafe. For example, the insecticide of these devices is exposed directly to the user, allowing for possible spilling of the insecticide or burning of the user. Further, after generation of the insecticide is complete, the user must manually turn the devices off.
Electric insecticide generators are known in the art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,660,828, which use a timer wherein the timer is present to open the electric circuit to turn off the device. Cooking appliances are also known in the art such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,543,052 and 2,269,689, in which a pot or pan activates the appliance or is locked to the appliance. However, these prior art devices are generally complex and expensive to manufacture, and impractical to use.
Further, fog-producing materials are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,038 discloses the use of a mixture of a fog-producing material, such as an insecticide, a fungicide, an antiseptic, a plant growth regulant, a herbicide, or a repellant, and a blowing agent in an electric device for dispensing the fog-producing material.
There are no known prior art electric foggers which are activated by the insertion of a disposable canister containing an insecticide whereby the canister simultaneously activates the electric fogger and locks the canister into position, and then automatically turns the fogger off after completion of the fogging of the insecticide.
Accordingly, the prior art insecticide generators have generally been complex both in their manufacture and use. The prior art insecticide generators have not provided the user with a simply constructed fogger which the user can activate by the insertion of an insecticide containing canister and which will turn off automatically after the insecticide has been completely dispensed.